Prologue-One big score isn’t so bad, right?

 

Hero Party

The hero of the holy sword, chosen by the goddess, and his companions.

A party that unites to defeat the Demon King and his minions, who threaten the continent.

A party that ultimately defeats the mighty evil with united strength and achieves peace on the continent.

Yes.

That’s how it should have been.

It was a long way to go to the Demon King.

At least, I thought we had to keep the unity.

But looking at the way things are now, I wonder if even the recorded hero party has been glorified. That’s what I think.

“Are you telling me to leave?”

“Yes.”

The hero and his companions were trying to expel me from the party.

In front of the Demon King’s castle, which was supposed to be much later.

Actually, I knew the signs of this a long time ago.

Talon, the hero of the holy sword from the bottom of the gutter.

Yuni, the saintess who was taken in by the church early on and handles divine power.

Kayla, the elf of the Great Forest, praised as a divine archer from the World Tree.

Helia, the next master of the Red Magic Tower.

And me, Sien, a thief from the gutter.

The hero party of five was simply amazing.

Because they annihilated every enemy in sight and moved forward.

No one on this continent didn’t know the name of the hero party, and most monsters would run away with their tails between their legs just by hearing the name of the hero party.

We were now facing the Demon King battle.

I’ve been in this party for over 5 years.

But now they’re telling me to get out.

“What did I do wrong?”

“I don’t want to keep a gloomy guy like you around.”

“That’s right. And the way people look at us.”

Saintess Yuni, of course, sticks to Talon’s side and glares at me.

“Does it make sense to have a thief class in a party with a hero, an elf, and a saintess?”

This time, even Kayla.

Okay. So the first excuse is that I’m gloomy.

I don’t deny it.

I’m a thief class. I was born that way, and I still am.

But you know what? I think I’m at least cool.

“A thief? That’s cool.”

“Cool, my ass! You’re just a thief!”

“That’s harsh.”

I shook my head at their immature words.

At least I’ve never stolen anything since I joined the hero party.

Probably.

“Put your hand on your conscience and tell me. Have you really never stolen anything?”

“No. Look into my eyes. Don’t I look innocent?”

I’ve only temporarily taken care of lost items.

Would you call that stealing?

“You fight dirty too!”

Helia, the next master of the Magic Tower, also stands in their ranks and glares.

Well, of course. All three of those women were Talon’s women.

It’s only natural for a woman to take her man’s side.

“Fighting dirty, what did I do?”

“Let’s get it straight. I’m an elf, Talon is a hero, and Yuni is a saintess. What are you? A thief with no roots, and you fight by backstabbing or something.”

“This is war. Are you going to worry about every little thing against monsters? In the first place, you guys can’t catch them quickly, so I, as a support role, catch them.”

In the end, the four were silent.

I guess they know they have nothing to say.

Even that kind of abuse is just to create a justification for kicking me out.

The hero party is not a system where the hero alone dominates.

It’s literally about fighting together by combining forces.

So what I did was in line with what the hero party should do.

And they’re arguing about that?

“Besides, it started with four people in the first place.”

“You were the one who brought me in, Talon.”

Since you included me, I worked harder than anyone else.

Even when you guys were playing around, I was running around catching monsters to raise the hero party’s fame.

“Still, I just gave you a chance to earn your keep, since we grew up in the same gutter. Honestly, there’s no hope. You’re still the same as you were in the past.”

“That’s right. It’s even creepy how you kill enemies without any means or methods and just run forward!”

“You’re like a vulgar human being who doesn’t fit in the hero party.”

They’re pouring out all kinds of personal attacks.

Okay. So I’m gloomy, and the things I do are dirty, and they don’t like my eyes.

I can accept it all.

But you know what? You still have to check the facts.

“I think my contribution to the hero party is the highest. Don’t you think your fame has risen thanks to the way I’ve been fighting?”

Since they’re coming at me like that, I have no choice but to go dark too.

“Yuni, where did you spend the support money from the high priest who saved the people who lost their village? You used it to buy your clothes, didn’t you?”

“It was just extra money!”

“And who made that extra money? If it wasn’t for my thief’s sense, you wouldn’t have been able to recover the support money that went to luxury items.”

Yuni shut her mouth.

She has nothing to say, so all she can do is glare.

“Kayla, when you were doing all sorts of crazy things and ignoring the reports of the humans, and the Great Forest was attacked by dark elves, who caught the dark elves and saved you from being reprimanded by the elf queen?”

“Helia, when you used the earthquake magic Earthbreak to catch the Demon King’s army and then ran around trying to restore the destroyed village, who was it?”

Even with my words, they just kept their mouths shut and couldn’t say anything more.

Whether I’m gloomy or not, we ended up working together.

But.

Look at those guys. They’re already hanging on Talon’s arms and openly despising me.

I never thought it would come to this, but ha, so that’s what it was.

“Still don’t understand?”

I finally realized it when Talon smirked.

Okay. So that’s what it was.

Honestly, there’s so much I want to say, but looking at their condition, it’s already been decided.

“Ah, okay. So that’s why. You didn’t like me acting alone.”

I clapped my hands as if to show them.

So we don’t get along.

Yeah. I know very well that they wouldn’t be able to say such things if they had any brains.

If those guys, who are classified as elites in their respective forces, sincerely say those ridiculous things, then the Great Forest, the temple, and the Magic Tower should all be destroyed.

The reason was already decided.

There’s a saying in the East.

You eat the hunting dog after the hunt is over.

Now that we’re facing the Demon King battle, they can’t stand to see a gloomy thief defeat the Demon King.

“So that’s why you said we should skip the Four Heavenly Kings and go straight to the Demon King.”

They are silent.

Yeah. You shouldn’t have anything to say.

You’ve used me as much as you can. Now that the time has come, you’re going to throw me away.

Well, I knew that this could happen someday.

In the first place, I wasn’t even made a formal party member because of the excuse that the nobles were protesting.

Even if things were different, I was just an extra.

They know very well that I won’t resist any further.

Why?

Because after all, they gave a gutter-born person other than the hero with the holy sword a chance to join the hero party.

Okay. Then I have no choice but to leave.

No matter how fucked up it is, there’s nothing I can do.

Those bastards know that and are trying to kick me out without even laughing at me now.

I carefully opened my mouth.

“Okay. I’ll leave. I didn’t get along with you guys anyway.”

And the way you guys act so relaxed when fighting the Demon King.

I don’t get along with those guys who live with a sense of superiority and self-importance.

Those bastards had relieved expressions on their faces at my words.

The girls had particularly relieved faces, as if they had finally gotten rid of something that was in the way.

Talon, that bastard, is just a guy who thinks he’s a hunter.

But you know what?

Those bastards carry around all kinds of things that can be turned into money, befitting their positions.

So.

So, you know.

Even if I’m leaving.

It’s okay to pull off one last heist, right?